In an exclusive and candid conversation with Raj Chengappa, India Today's Group Editorial Director (Publishing), Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spelt out his agenda for this historic visit.

While the bonhomie and the friendship between both the leaders Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and the Israeli Premier was visible from the moment the latter landed on the Tarmac in New Delhi, Netanyahu emphasised that it is the "kindred" spirit between the two that makes this a very "special relationship".

"I respect Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a great leader. I see him with a kindred spirit because he is impatient to bring the future to his people and to change the world. In many ways, our partnership can do a lot of things", he said in his interview.

The Israeli Prime Minister has come down to India with a huge business contingent to upgrade the economic cooperation between the two nations but his emphasis has been innovation and technology.

What is Netanyahu offering?

Prime Minister Netanyahu is offering high-end technology in the agriculture and health sector.

Netanyahu also mentioned about having Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or moving up towards that direction.

We are not aggressive nations but very committed to making sure that no one can commit aggression against either one of us, he said.

In a massive outreach toward people centric policies, Prime Minister Netanyahu is offering high-end technology in the agriculture and health sector, including drones for farmers.

He said that it was unimaginable but true, "Drones for agriculture, can you imagine that. This is what Israel can do in the Indian farm. You put a drone in the sky, pick data information and you photograph the field and then you direct the water to the level of the individual plant."

Adding that India and Israel will get the right impetus and spur in technological and economic cooperation by "having Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or moving up towards that direction. Israel's changing rapidly. We are creating industries out of thin air."

On the more contentious issue of India's vote against the US resolution at the UN on Jerusalem, the Prime Minister didn't mince any words. He didn't hide his disappointment but also added that it would not get in the way of a "grand partnership."

"I don't think one vote affects the general trend and you can see it in many other votes that we have had here. Naturally, I'm disappointed but I think this visit is a testament to the fact that our relationship is moving forward on so many fronts," he said.

Israel and India through its diplomatic channels handled the decision on Jerusalem by India, but it was the cancellation of the $ 500 million Spike man-portable anti-tank missiles by India on January 2 that dealt a bigger blow to Tel Aviv.

While responding to the question on defence deals impacted by this decision he said, "I hope that this visit can help resolve this issue because I think there is a reasonable chance we can reach an equitable solution but we will have to wait till the end of this visit. But our defence relationship is quite significant and it encompasses many things."

I think the keyword is defence. We want to defend ourselves. We are not aggressive nations but very committed to making sure that no one can commit aggression against either one of us.

- Benjamin Netanyahu

Speaking about protecting one another, he answered India Today's questions on terror cooperation saying "intelligence" is the key to fighting terrorism and that Israel in the last few years averted 30 major terror attacks. With Moshe Holtzberg, who lost his parents in the Mumbai terror attack, accompanying the Israeli premier to Mumbai, Netanyahu used some tough words against Hafiz Saeed who roams freely in Pakistan.

"Ultimately we will catch up with the killers but the objective is also to prevent future killers. Israel protects the lives of so many people," he said.

When asked if a tit-for-tat policy with the enemy is fair and if he supported India's "surgical strike" into Pakistan, he was rather diplomatic with his response but agreed with the method.

"I let India makes its own choices. But the doctrine of fighting terrorism is one, not having terrorism so you can prevent it and secondly, take action against the killers. I'm not saying take action against innocent people but it's something that's not always easy to do. These are the two principles. You fight terrorism by fighting, you fight the terrorists", said Prime Minister Netanyahu.

This visit is not just about the substance but also the optics. And in that, there would be a lot of rich visuals, food and theatre.

On a lighter note, when asked about his favourite Indian food Prime Minister Netanyahu said, "Chicken tikka masala" is his favourite. "I love Indian food."

Yoga has become a part of Prime Minister Modi's soft power policy and when asked Benjamin Netanyahu came up with a unique answer. Unexpected but one that Modi would certainly agree with.

He said, "I don't do Yoga but I wake up in the morning and when I look to the east, the first democracy I see is India and when Mr. Modi wakes up in the morning and does his Yoga and looks left, the first democracy he sees is Israel. This is a grand partnership."